Myra McEntire

“Memories and emotions are all tied up. The morestrongly you feel about a situation influences how youremember it.”

“If I've learned something from all this crap...it's that living anywhere other than in the moment is a mistake...The future is subjective.”

“Autumn always fascinated me—so much beauty in dying. Leaves holding on until the bitter end, finally going down in a blaze of glory, almost as if they were trying to convince us to keep them alive.”

“There's not a boy alive like the one in my dreams.”

“I'm simply reminding you that you're worth more than what you'll find at the bottom of a bottle.”

“If he wasn't already holding my heart in the palm of his hand, I would have taken it out and given it to him right then.”

“I wanted to be alone with him. Really alone. "Maybe we should take this back to my place." He lifted his head to look at me, a strange expression on his face. I let out a nervous giggle. "That sounded better in my head.""It sounded pretty damn good out of it.”

“No matter what your reality looks like, you're the girl I'm in love with today, and the same girl I'll be in love with tomorrow and all the days after that. Not just because of who you are, but because of who you were.It's all part of your story, Em. And I want to be a part of your story, too.”

“Aren't I supposed to be brave, fearless? Isn't that what the world expects?" "Screw what the world expects. Think about all the things you've faced. You cracked, but you didn't break. You're still standing. I'd call that fearless. You've already conquered so much.”

“You aren't my keeper, Lily.""No one is. You're responsilbe for you. I'm simply reminding you that you're worth more than what you'll find at the bottom of a bottle.”

“That hurts me in my feminism.”

“My breath caught in my throat.Buttered biscuits and honey."You're not what I expected.”

“Crazy like he's a serial killer, or crazy like he attends Star Trek conventions in full costume?""That's only crazy if you dress like a Klingon," I pointed out.”

“Just Michael, how grateful I was that he was alive, how much I wanted to touch him. How much I wanted him to touch me.He kept his eyes on the activity outside. "Emerson, you can't look at me like that. Not right now.""How do you know I'm looking at you?""I can feel it." He smiled. I couldn't see it, but I could hear it in his voice. He hooked one arm around my neck and gently pulled me to his side.”

“And I love you.""Remember the night we sat here, and I fed you all the clues the future Em had given me to convince you I was legit? The bluegrass, the belly ring-""The designated hitter?""Yes." He grinned."Hmph.""What else did I tell you?""That you had a teddy bear named Rupert."He rolled his eyes. "About you, and the first time I saw you."Answering made me feel shy, but I did it anyway."That I said I would take your breath away the first time you saw me." I was still holding his face, and he reached up to put his hands over mine."You did it then. And you just did it again." His kiss was sweet, soft, and easy at first. I felt urgency stir just under the surface, but I refused to let the desire to hurry things interfere in the moment. I wanted to savor every single one.We had all the time in the world.My brother's voice floated down from the open window. "Emerson!"Well, as son as my grounding was over, we had all the time in the world.”

“I have Michael's number on my phone. I could call him and ask him to come over."I'd do whatever it took to talk to Michael. If that included serving up some extra crazy with a side of sauce, so be it."Babe?" he called over his shoulder to Dru, watching me with wide eyes as I kept singing, twirling my hair around my finger. "You might wanna hurry.”

“Forget sleeping in it. I'd also shoved a bookcase in front of the door and forbidden anyone else to go in. Thomas didn't say a word.But he did start perusing local real estate listings.”

“The second Thomas laid eyes on me, he grounded me indefinitely.That's not true, exactly. He hugged me first. But the grounding occurred shortly thereafter.”

“Did I say thank you?" Michael asked as we ducked into Liam's office. "If not, thank you." He raised our joined hands to his lips and kissed the inside of my wrist."I can't remember." I couldn't remember anything. Hello, erogenous zone. "And you're welcome." He just grinned.Still holding hands, we stepped into the veil.”

“Maybe we should take this back to my place."He lifted his head to look at me, a strange expression on his face. I let out a nervous giggle. "That sounded better in my head.""It sounded pretty damn good out of it.”

“Don't say anything about rules, or you'll be dead in the future because I killed you. No one else is following them besides you, and I'll be damned if some misguided sense of honor makes you do something stupid now.”

“Can you do any nature sounds, birdcalls?""Birdcalls?" He'd cracked from the pressure. "In case you need me.”

“Would you like to try this again then, another time?""I'd very much like to try this again, another time." He grinned, but it carried a touch of sadness. "I'll give you a second to...uh...fix your hair.""My hair?""I'll give you a second to fix my hair. I mean, I'll give you a second while I go fix my hair." He let out a sigh. "I mean, I'll see you downstairs."He turned to walk out of the room, but unfortunately, he forgot to open the door first. I managed to hold my laughter until he got it right.”

“Ever since the day I got a voice mail and met up with a slightly older woman at Riverbank Park, the title of 'my girl' has been reserved.""So you like older women?"He lifted his hand and gave his bedroom door a solid push. A soft snick told me it had closed behind me."I like you. And I see now that I should have cleared that up a long time ago.”

“And if anyone asks, you don't know where Michael and I are."There was a moment of silence on the other end. "I don't know where you are.”

“What are you chopping up?""The trinity: onions, green peppers, and celery. Etouffee's going in the pot. Dune and Nate are on the way back from their consults, and they're bringing crawfish. So," he said, scraping bits of cut vegetables from his knife onto the side of the stainless-steel pan, "final judgement's on the way.”

“Drunk," she said."Shrew," he replied."Kids!" Michael held up his hands in a T shape. "Time out."Ava shot Kaleb a dirty look and left the kitchen. Michael followed.He didn't look back."Why don't you tell her how you really feel?" I asked Kaleb when they were gone."I have from the beginning." Kaleb put his arms on the table and propped his chin on his fist, gazing at me. "Kind of like I'm about to tell you that I might be in love with you.""Really?" I laughed. "Because of all of our deep conversations and the quality time we've spent together? Or was it just love at first sight?""Something like that," he said, teasing.”

“Hey,bro, do you think you can put Shorty back on her chain?"I stepped forward with my hands on my hips, only slightly intimidated to find Kaleb almost eye level with me when he was seated and I was standing."First of all, no one is the boss of me but me.Secondly, if you ever reference my 'chain' again, I will kick your ass." I jabbed him hard in the chest with my finger. Possibly breaking it. "And thirdly, don't call me Shorty."Kaleb sat silently for a second, his eyes wide as he looked at Michael. "Where did you find her? Can you get me one?"I blew out a loud, frustrated sigh and dropped down beside Michael, who didn't even try to hide his smile. "You should probably apologize to Emerson.""I am sorry." Kaleb grinned at me. "Sorry I didn't meet you first.”

“She might as well get to know the real you." Michael shrugged."I don't appreciate what that implies," Kaleb said through gritted teeth.”

“Nothing is going on.""Hey, you're the one who tried to knock a security camera off the side of a building. That's a lot of pent-up frustration.”

“My ass was grass, and big brother was the lawn mower.”

“It's not my goal to freak you out.""Too bad," I answered. "Because that one was so solid it didn't even touch the net." Swish.”

“Her words sounded accusatory, and after the way she'd grabbed the binder, I couldn't help going on the defensive. "I'd apologize, but I'm not happy about it either.”

“Probably she didn't bother with her hair because nothing could compete with her face.”

“Isn't the information about your ability enough to digest right now?""The info is digested, Michael. As a matter of fact, it's so digested it's getting ready to come out as a big pile of sh-""Don't get snippy with me." His eyes flashed a warning."I'm not snippy. I'm mad," I returned through gritted teeth. "And your personal health is in danger if you don't fess up about what's going on.”

“Didn't I just ask you to stop asking questions?""You asked me to stop for one second. You should have been more specific if you wanted longer." Having a big brother taught me quite a bit about arguing with the intent to wear down my opponent.”

“Ah, my old friend, anxiety-throwing itself into the blender with sheer terror and embarrassment.”

“And I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I was in the right place-okay," I amended when he raised his eyebrows. "The wrong place at the right time." More head shaking.”

“After I pulled in, I decided in my typical fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants fashion that if anyone asked, I was going to be "lost." I hoped no one would have the opportunity to look in the car. Lost and a fancy GPS system didn't go together.”

“I realized I'd never asked him about his major. Probably wasn't time travel.I didn't think our local college was quite that progressive.”

“Maybe Michael left a candle burning. Maybe be forgot to turn off his iron, or the oven. Maybe he left his dishwasher running and it was flooding the place, or a thirsty plant desperately needed water. Maybe I was way out of line.”

“One second he was kissing me as if I was as essential to him as oxygen, and the next it was over. He stepped away, looking haunted."Did I do something wrong?"I touched my mouth, missing the heat of him."No." He shook his head and shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. I didn't want his hands in his pockets. I wanted them on me."Why did you--?""Not because I wanted to stop kissing you."He looked at my lips. My pulse sped up, but my blood felt like lava moving through my veins."Timing. My timing sucks."Circumstances. Not because of me. I couldn't keep myself from grinning. "Why would you like to try this again then, another time?""I'd very much like to try this again, another time."He grinned, but it carried a touch of sadness. "I'll give you a second to...fix your hair.""My hair?""I'll give you a second to fix my hair. I mean, I'll give you a second while I go fix my hair." He let out a sigh. "I mean, I'll see you downstairs." He turned to walk out of the room, but unfortunately, he forgot to open the door first. I managed to hold in my laughter until he got it right.”

“I hoped he would believe nothing happened.Not that it did. Of this I was painfully aware.”

“We could have had a major disaster on our hands.""Right now the earth could fall off its axis, and I wouldn't give a rats behind."Michael's gaze skimmed over my bare shoulders, and he reached out to gently pull my jacket around them. "I've known since before we met how it would be between us. But knowing didn't prepare me for you.”

“I don't need any bonus material to throw me over the edge later."Or don a flight of stairs, under a bus, and straight back to the mental ward.”

“And that the first time I saw you, now, in the present, you would...take my breath away.""Well." Heat crept up my chest to my face. He looked up at the night sky, peaking his next words so softly I almost couldn't hear them. "You were right.”

“You think you can start tomorrow? I need a break.""Only if you can free me from this beast of a chair," I said, wiggling as I tried to get some leverage. "What do you feed this thing? Customers?""Relax." Lily let her hair fall around her shoulders and grinned at me. "I kind of like having a captive audience.”

“Unless you're trying to make a pile of bread crumbs to find your way home, you should probably give that roll a break.”

“How do you tell the difference between real people and time ripples?""You mean besides punching them in the stomach?" I blushed, not because I'd hit him, but because I was thinking about his abs.”

“His expression practically hung out a shingle announcing the topic was off-limits.”